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Some customer service stories are so amazing they get told and retold over weeks, months, sometimes even years. Such stories are usually about companies that have a strong culture of customer service. It would benefit other organizations to study such stories and apply the lessons they learn from them to the experiences they create for their own customers. The lessons from the following story are about the importance of customer relations and employee empowerment.

The Question

A few years ago, I had a day to myself in Disney World's Magic Kingdom, before the start of a conference I was attending. Hoping to do something a bit different, I went to the Guest Relations office at Disney's City Hall and asked if there was room on the Keys to the Kingdom tour. All 20 spots were already booked, I was told, but the very friendly cast member at Guest Relations suggested I wait in case a spot opened up (people get sick or don't show up). For the next 30 minutes, I stood quietly in that office, chatting casually with the cast members and keeping my fingers crossed (it was raining steadily, so I was hopeful).

The Surprise Answer

Five minutes before the tour was to begin, one of the cast members told me I was going to be able to take the tour. “Did someone cancel?” I asked excitedly. The reply was, “No. But you have been so good about waiting patiently we decided we could make our tour 21 people today.”

I was thrilled! But wait; there's more to the story. The ...

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